COMPILER'S NOTE 



MOST of the papers in this volume are 

 published for the first time. A few have 

 appeared in The 'Daily Express, The London 

 Evening News, The Field, The Saturday 

 Review, The Outlook, The English Review, 

 and The Wide World Magazine. I am 

 indebted to the Editors of these publications 

 for permission to reprint them; and I am 

 personally grateful to Sir Theodore Cook, 

 of The Field, and to Mr. Austin Harrison 

 of The English "Review for their encourage- 

 ment and kindness in criticising and printing 

 my earliest essays. 



"Winter's Eve," the first attempt to 

 describe the common sights and sounds 

 of the English countryside, I include for 

 reasons of sentiment. Nature writing, I 

 have been told by some authorities on art, 

 is regarded as a trivial thing " nature," 



578254 



